Patterson Companies (PDCO) Downgraded by BidaskClub

BidaskClub cut shares of Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning, BidAskClub reports.

PDCO has been the topic of several other research reports. ValuEngine cut shares of Patterson Companies from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, February 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 17th. They set a neutral rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Patterson Companies from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Patterson Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a neutral rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Patterson Companies presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.86.

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Shares of PDCO opened at $21.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.34. Patterson Companies has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $26.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.80.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 28th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Patterson Companies had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 8.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Patterson Companies will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. Patterson Companies’s payout ratio is 61.90%.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDCO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,939,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,085,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,662,000 after buying an additional 822,221 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 1,913.8% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 649,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 617,386 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 64.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,162,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,424,000 after buying an additional 457,312 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Patterson Companies by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,795,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,575,000 after buying an additional 453,803 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

Patterson Companies Company Profile

Patterson Companies, Inc distributes and sells dental and animal health products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It operates through Dental and Animal Health segments. The company's Dental segment offers consumable products, such as infection control, restorative materials, hand instruments, and sterilization products; basic and advanced technology dental equipment; patient education systems; and office forms and stationery.